The Jamestown Planning Commission and staff during the Oct. 9 Gateway Lofts public hearing.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown Planning Commission is meeting Tuesday in city hall and will continue its review of site plans for the proposed Gateway Lofts project.

The meeting comes just one week after a public hearing was held focusing on the project and with more than 80 people in attendance.

The Planning Commission meeting is required to review site plans for the $31 million project and act on any permits needed to allow the project to move forward.

The Gateway Lofts project is an effort by Southern Tier Environments for Living (STEL), Community Helping Hands and the YWCA of Jamestown to provide 80 single and multi-family housing units in the upper floors of the Gateway Center on Water St.

Of these units, 39 would offer affordable housing options for low income residents, 16 would go to single-parent families assisted by the YWCA, and 25 units would be administered by STEL and designated for non-violent individuals who are homeless and have a serious mental illness or a substance use disorder – with a history of criminal offending or are at risk of offending.

The Gateway Center is the former Chautauqua Hardware furniture manufacturing company and part of the project would also include environmental remediation. It currently houses several service agencies including the Mental Health Association, Community Helping Hands and the St. Susan Center – which developers and supporter say make it an ideal location for the development project.

During last week’s hearing several questions from the public were asked about the project, including safety and environmental concerns as well as the large price tag associated with renovating the building.

Representatives for the project offered their responses during the hearing and now it’s up to the planning commission to determine if the project should proceed or if other issues still need to be addressed.

According to the developers, support for the project has been given by several local officials, including: Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Catherine Young, Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, County Executive George Borrello, Deputy County Executive for Economic Development and IDA director Mark Geise, Sheriff Joseph Gerace, county Health and Human Services Director Christine Schuyler, and the Homeless Coalition.

Tuesday’s planning commission meeting begins at 3:30 p.m. on the 4^th floor of city hall in the mayors conference room and is open to the public.

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JAMESTOWN – More than 80 people showed up Tuesday night for the Jamestown Planning Commission’s public hearing on the proposed Gateway Lofts housing development.

At the start of the two-hour hearing, representatives from Southern Tier Environments for Living (STEL) went over the updated details of the project proposed for the Gateway Center on Water Street in Jamestown, which is the site of the former Chautauqua Hardware building.

Attorney Steven Ricca of Bond, Schoeneck & King and representing Southern Tier Environments for Living shows updated site plans for the proposed Gateway Lofts project during the Oct. 9 public hearing in the Jamestown City Council Chambers.

The proposal project is now an estimated $31 million with a total of 80 housing units. Of these units, 39 unites on the 2nd floor would offer affordable housing options by Community Helping Hands, 16 units on the 3rd floor would go to single-parent families assisted by the YWCA of Jamestown, and 25 units on the 4th floor administered by STEL would be designated for non-violent individuals who are homeless and have a serious mental illness or a substance use disorder with a history of criminal offending or are at risk of offending.

STEL attorney Steven Ricca with the law form Bond, Schoeneck and King also announced that after the Planning Commission expressed some concerns over the project during its September meeting, the developers are now committed to purchasing two additional adjacent properties to create more green space opportunity for residents, especially children, who would be living in the development. They also said that they would increase the number of parking spaces to bring the project closer in compliance with city code.

The group also re-emphasized why the location was selected, saying the Gateway Center project is in a centrally located area where several other social service organizations are based – including Community Helping Hands, Love Inc., BOCES, the Mental Health Association, and St. Susan’s Soup Kitchen.

“The whole point of leveraging all the community organizations and resources is to be efficient and make the best use of taxpayer dollars – which in this case would be limited to state and federal dollars – and to leverage centers of critical mass as is encouraged in the 1998 city comprehensive plan,” Ricca said.

As for the public comment, 27 different people offered comments related to support or concerns for the project, as well as asking questions focusing on issues related to the site plans and environmental review, as well as general questions about the need and cost for the project.

“My vision for this program is to have single parents and families come out of the third floor, have people on the second floor and the fourth floor become citizens of the city that raise their children to not be in the same place that they are in. My vision for this program is to make this a reality for all of us and I know that we all want that,” said YWCA Executive Director Jacqueline Chiarot Phelps.

Andrew O’Brien, who had served on the county’s Opioid Addiction Task Force, voiced his support for the Gateway Lofts project during the Oct. 9 public hearing.

Andrew O’Brien, who had worked at UPMC Chautauqua prior to retiring and also served on the county’s Opioid Addiction Task Force.

“A couple years ago the county’s task force on opioid addiction visited a model program in Canandaigua similar to this and shared details of the transitional housing program being developed at UPMC Chautauqua and the executive director of that program asked what are you going to do about permanent supportive housing, rather than just transitional housing. He was emphasizing that if you’re going to have a comprehensive approach, particular to mental health problems and substance abuse problems including the opioid epidemic, you need to have the right levels of care in place and not just bits of the system to help resolve the issues,” O’Brien said. “So I need to point out today that is still one of the more substantial needs that we have in Chautauqua County and in Jamestown.”

“Safe, quality, affordable housing and all the supports that are needed to empower those living in those housing are the most basic determinants of public health,” explained County Health and Human Services Director Christine Schuyler. “Gateway lofts project provides an incredible opportunity to improve the overall physical and mental health of our community. ”

City resident and at large councilman Andrew Liuzzo had some concerns for the proposed project related to both the cost as well as the health hazards that could come from housing people in a building previously used for manufacturing.

“Is this funding secured? Because if it’s not, then what are we talking about? If it is, is this the best place to put $34 million?”asked city resident and at large councilman Andrew Liuzzo. who was also concerned with the amount of toxic chemical residue that could still be in the building because it was once a manufacturing plant. “If this comes from a Brownfield grant, then why don’t you take something like the building on Harrison and Willard that’s already half fallen down? Knock that down and building something new. I’m not saying that this is not a good intended project but I think there’s other ways to do this, especially if the money’s not there.”

“We have to decide where are we going to go and what direction are we going to lead the people of Jamestown? Are we going to lead people back to work or is this going to be the beginning of more big government, more social services in the city of Jamestown that has been cultivated by the present administration for the past 17 years?” asked city resident Anthony Toda, adding, “Once the cost of this rehab goes through, what’s going to sustain the ongoing costs of this operation?”

In all a total of 14 different questions were asked and the developers did their best to address each one, explaining that if the project hadn’t been proposed for the current location, it’s unlikely the brownfield site would see any environmental remediation. Developers said the project would be covered primarily through state and federal funding and tax credits that it wouldn’t be able to receive if it were proposed elsewhere.

According to the developers, support for the project has been given by several local officials, including: Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Catherine Young, Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, County Executive George Borrello, Deputy County Executive for Economic Development and IDA director Mark Geise, Sheriff Joseph Gerace, county Health and Human Services Director Christine Schuyler, and the Homeless Coalition.

The city planning commission and staff

Planning Commission Chair Greg Rabb told WRFA after the hearing was over that he was impressed with the turnout.

“I’m always heartened when I see this many people. Even if I don’t agree with people, I’m always happy to see this many people turn out, especially if they are residents from the city. I welcome our friends from outside of the city, but as soon as somebody tells me they live in this city I pay particular attention,” Rabb said “And it was a beautiful day. I think there were record-breaking temperatures today, so for folks to give up their evening to come and talk to us makes me feel good because that means a lot of people in Jamestown care about what our next steps are.”

Rabb said that the planning commission will likely consider the revised site plans for the loft project when it holds its monthly meeting next Tuesday at 4 p.m. in City Hall.

JAMESTOWN – It was a packed house at Jamestown Community College’s Scharman Theater Tuesday night as hundreds turned out to hear six different speakers offer an update and provide information in the fight against drug addiction.

The “Many Faces of Addiction” forum was organized by the city’s Health Care Action Team and featured six speakers focusing on various topics related to the issue, including public safety, stigma, human trafficking/sexual exploitation, challenges facing women and mothers, harm reduction, and spirituality/community connection.

Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellings during the Nov. 15 drug forum at Jamestown Community College

Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellings offered an update on how addiction has impacted public safety in recent years, saying that while the community has seen some positive changes recently, but also said the numbers indicate it’s still a long way off and there’s still a lot more work to do.

Snellings presented data that illustrates the rising demand for both illegal opioids and stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine. He also talked about the increase in overdose calls in the area, pointing out that there was 68 calls in 2015, but through the first 10 months of 2017, that number has climbed to 213 calls.

Snellings also said that fatal overdoses have also been on the rise, with 26 reported in 2015, compared to 13 in 2010. He also said that while officials try to keep track of the number of fatal overdoses in the community, the number is not accurate because often times an autopsy or toxicology may not be performed on someone who has died.  Snellings added that the situation isn’t unique to Chautauqua County with a total of 30 counties in New York State that are likely under-reporting fatal overdoses due to substance use.

Another speaker was Dr. Karen McElrath, a Jamestown native and current Professor of Criminal Justice at Fayetteville State University, North Carolina. Dr. McElrath focused on the stigmas associated with addiction and how they can prevent those who are addicted from seeking help.

Yet another speaker, Leanna Luka Conley from Children and Family Services in Chautauqua County, discussed the impact addiction has on human trafficking, which she said can be more commonly known as sexual exploitation.

Other speakers included Dr. Davina Moss-King, from Positive Direction and Associates in Buffalo and who spoke on the impact addiction has on women, pregnant mothers, and new borns; Andrew O’Brien, former Director of Behavioral Health at WCA; and Rev. Luke Fodor of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Jamestown.

A question and answer period followed.  The forum was moderated by Dr. Lillian Ney.